Author: Trafficblast

Season 3 of Fortnite‘s free-to-play Battle Royale mode is underway, and developer Epic has now kicked off the first limited-time mode of the season. Right now, players on PC, PS4, and Xbox One can participate in the Solid Gold event, which will only be around in the game for the next few days.

The Solid Gold mode is only available to play with Squads, with the theme of this particular event being Legendary weapons. For the duration of the mode, every weapon that players find in chests or around the map will be of the Legendary variety. Among those are the Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle, Minigun, and the recently introduced Hand Cannon.

Epic recently teased that it plans to hold roughy five limited-time modes in Fortnite: Battle Royale “in the next month or so.” The developer didn’t provide a time table for when the modes will roll out, but one will be a modified version of the 50v50 event that ran back in December, while another, called Blitz Mode, will feature shorter matches than usual. Epic has also teased that jetpacks will be coming “soon” to Battle Royale.

Season 3 of Battle Royale began last week with the release of Fortnite’s 3.0.0 patch. That update introduced a new Battle Pass, which can be purchased for 950 V-Bucks and features 30 more rewards tiers than previous Battle Passes. Among the new items that can be unlocked in Battle Royale are Back Bling cosmetics, which allow players to customize their avatars’ backs. You can take a look at all of the Season 3 Battle Pass rewards in our gallery.

Epic hasn’t announced an exact end date for the Solid Gold event, but most limited-time modes in Fortnite: Battle Royale typically run for one week, giving you only a few days to take part in it. If you’re just getting into Fortnite, we’ve put together a building guide for Battle Royale and other essential tips everyone should know. Seasoned players, meanwhile, can check out our guide of advanced tips for Fortnite: Battle Royale.

With Disney owning some of the biggest franchises in cinema, it was inevitable that the company would want to incorporate them into its theme park business. Two massive Star Wars parks have been under construction in the US for several years, and it has now been announced that Disneyland Paris will undergo a $2.5 billion expansion to incorporate areas based on Star Wars, Marvel, and the animated hit Frozen.

The plans were revealed by Disney boss Bob Iger, following a meeting in Paris with French president Emmanuel Macron. In a statement, Iger said: “We’re very excited about the future of Disneyland Paris and continue to invest in its long-term success. The resort is already the leading tourist destination in Europe, and the transformative expansion we announced today will add even more of our beloved characters and unparalleled storytelling to create new lands, attractions and entertainment that further elevate the guest experience and drive new opportunities for tourism in this dynamic region.”

The Star Wars, Marvel, and Frozen areas will be rolled out in stages, starting in 2021. While the company’s specific plans are unknown, Disneyland Paris will start to introduce a Marvel element from this summer with characters appearing at the park and a Marvel-themed hotel opening in 2020. In addition, Iger hinted earlier this week that Black Panther could play a part in the company’s future theme park plans.

The two Star Wars lands in Florida and California are set to open in 2019. Last summer, a scale model of the park design was revealed at the company’s annual D23 convention. According to the company, “both Star Wars-inspired lands will transport guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before Wild Space, where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life.” Iger previously explained that they would be “largest single-themed land expansions ever,” covering 14 acres of land.

Following last year’s breaking point with loot boxes and recent moves by lawmakers to take action against them, the Entertainment Software Rating Board has announced a new label that will be affixed to select games. The overall goal is to inform consumers–and in particular, parents–about which games offer a way to spend additional real-world money from right within the game itself, but whether it will be effective is unclear.

The ESRB’s new label, which will read “In-Game Purchases,” will be located near the rating category (E for Everyone, M for Mature, etc.) but will not be housed inside the same box as content descriptors (Sexual Content, Comic Mischief, etc.). The ESRB expects games to begin arriving in stores with the new label in the “near future.” This will coincide with the launch of a new website intended to inform parents about the ESRB’s ratings system, how in-game purchases work, and how to use parental tools to control what and how children play games. The new label will offer no specifics about the type of in-game purchases available so as to avoid overwhelming parents with too much information.

Despite loot boxes being perceived as the most contentious element, ESRB president Patricia Vance says parents are not specifically concerned with those, but the broader potential for their children to spend money in general. As such, this label will cover not just loot boxes, but other forms of DLC like maps or purchases of in-game currency. This of course raises an obvious question: Isn’t that every game these days?

During a conference call with the ESRB attended by GameSpot, Vance drew a distinction between things that are offered “in-game” versus a traditional expansion pack or “large DLC.” However, she did say that if such content is offered in-game, it would necessitate the label. This would seemingly include the vast majority of games; as publishers increasingly focus on post-launch microtransactions, there are certainly few big-name games that don’t offer players some way to spend more money on them. Vance would only say, “There are games that do not have in-game purchases.”

This move by the ESRB comes not long after United States Senator Maggie Hassan called on the group to look into loot boxes and their effects on players. She also requested that the ESRB label games that contain loot boxes. Vance believes the new In-Game Purchases label is an “effective response,” but it’s not necessarily the last step the ESRB will take.

“We believe that this is an effective response,” she says. “If you care about parents, if you care about their concerns, this is an effective response. … This is just a first step. We are going to continue to look at this issue, we’re going to continue to determine if there are additional measures that we can take, additional guidelines that we can put in place. We are always evolving our system and this is obviously an issue of concern to the gamer community. We’re going to continue to take a look at what more we can do.”

Vance also says that the ESRB doesn’t plan to use its Simulated Gambling or Real Gambling content descriptors because a game includes loot boxes. She reaffirms that the ESRB doesn’t consider loot boxes to be gambling, in part because they are typically optional and can sometimes be acquired by playing: “We think it’s a fun way to acquire virtual items for use within the game and to enhance your experience or personalize your experience. Obviously, there’s an element of surprise, just like baseball trading cards, but you always get something, there’s no way to cash out, players can complete a game without ever buying a loot box if they choose not to… There are a lot of different factors where we just don’t think it would qualify for either of our gambling descriptors.”

The ESRB also plans to issue a response to Senator Hassan’s recent letter, in which it highlights the new label and website. It also cites its research into how few children are allowed to make in-game purchases without permission (91% are not allowed, it claims) and says the problem is primarily one of awareness. It remains to be seen whether any of the proposed loot box legislation–either in the US or abroad–goes anywhere, but it seems unlikely that this new measure by the ESRB alone will quell lawmakers’ interest in pursuing the issue.

Too often VR games seek (and fail) to replicate the feel of traditional games. Their inability to translate the smooth gameplay we’re used to–as opposed to working with the strengths of the hardware to create something new–often sours the experience. Moss, a new PlayStation VR exclusive from developer Polyarc, does the complete opposite. With its careful use of the hardware it’s running on, Moss is a platformer that isn’t just full of charm and surprises, but one that wouldn’t feel at home outside of VR.

Moss stars Quill, an incredibly adorable white mouse with an aptly tiny sword and satchel on her back. Quill lives within folk tale, the sort of whimsical fantasy that comes to life from the watercolours of a story book and narrated over with a single personable voice. Due to a terrible war years earlier, Quill and an adorable city of similar rodents live on the outskirts of a castle that kisses the horizon. There’s mysticism and magic at play around every corner, different factions controlling parts of the thick forests surrounding you, and dangers that have everyone keeping their heads down.

Quill doesn’t seek to change this balance, but like in all good fantasy tales, fate doesn’t share that opinion. It doesn’t take long for her to stumble upon a magical item that introduces a second protagonist: you. You control Quill with a standard DualShock 4, but you also play the part of the Reader, a ghost-like figure with a mask that only Quill can see. You do double duty as an ever-present deity, actively observing Quill’s adventure and aiding her where you can.

Your relationship with Quill and the investment in her journey are paramount to why Moss entangles itself in your heartstrings. Using motion controls, you’re able to give Quill a little head scratch, which she reciprocates with an appreciative smile and wave. At certain times, Quill will gesture for a high-five after completing a difficult task or gesture toward the solution of a puzzle when you’re stuck. Quill is almost unbelievably animated; her motions give her personality and entice you to just watch as you control her scamping about. The way she kicks her legs at the end of a climb or communicates through sign are both contextually fitting and wondrous in both minute detail and fluidity, and never ceases to bring a smile to your face.

Moss is all about multitasking. You handle Quill’s platforming in small, bite-sized areas, with the thumbsticks and face buttons for control. As the Reader, though, you interact with objects within Quill’s world with the use of motion controls and single button holds. At the same time you’re able to peer around every nook and cranny the space has to offer, manipulating your view to discover new routes, spy on well hidden secrets, and just keep up with Quill’s fast movements. Moss doesn’t feel like a game that would work without VR. It combines its many input options eloquently, using them to inform and drive the design of its puzzles instead of the other way around. It’s a joy to engage with in ways that so many other VR titles struggle to achieve.

Moss requires you to interact with specific objects in Quill’s world. You can move large stones with small motion gestures to shorten a gap for Quill to hop over or pull staircases from the ground that lead to doorways above. You can even load a ballista for her to fire with a lever nearby. These interactions are enacted with simple motion controls and single button holds to grab onto items. Moss does a good job of gently increasing the difficulty of its challenges as you go but always understands the limitations of its control scheme. It’s rare to run into puzzles where deft timing is the only way to succeed. Instead, Moss requires you to understand how to work together with Quill, and its challenges are designed around that rather well.

Often, puzzles involve moving elements in each area to create paths for Quill to traverse. Gates might be controlled by a pressure pad nearby, forcing you to keep it pressed down as Quill rushes to slink beneath it. Other times it’s a simple matter of spacial awareness. Quill can scale ledges demarcated with white paint, but reaching them might involve moving a platform along a small rail of track and blocking it at just the right time to make the jump possible.

Enemies punctuate this in a clever way, making up what would in any other game be additions to Quill’s inventory. Quill never gets access to anything more than a sword, leaving her with just a simple string of attacks and a useful dodge in her repertoire. As the Reader, though, you can take direct control of three distinct enemies. For example, one will simply rush Quill with dangerous swipes of its arms, while another will sit atop a ledge and fire off balls of energy in your direction. The latter just explodes in a fountain of green, smelly goo, with its blowback proving useful in making space during combat or knocking down walls impeding your progress.

Alone they are pieces to a puzzle: taking control of a projectile-based enemy lets you trigger switches from afar, while a well-timed explosion can remove a fragile wall blocking the way. In combination–specifically in the limited combat arenas you will find yourself in–it becomes a tricky dance of control. Quill is fragile, with only a handful of hits spelling death. It’s up to you to keep her dodging around the battlefield while locking down enemies for her to strike, or better still, using their abilities against each other to level the field in imaginative ways.

It’s a pity that you aren’t given a lot of time to truly experiment with these combinations in more ways. Moss is almost criminally short. Quill’s adventure abruptly ends after about three hours, with a tease that Quill’s story isn’t yet complete. It’s heartbreaking in the way that finishing any good game is, but Moss could certainly have benefited from a little more finality after such an emotionally engaging journey.

Slight hiccups in performance also detract from what is otherwise an impressive VR achievement from a technical standpoint. Quick movements with the motion controls are difficult for the PlayStation Camera to pick up reliably and can often result in the wrong enemies being locked-on to. But while it’s inconvenient, death is hardly punishing, so these stumbles are easier to swallow. As are the infrequent technical issues, which resulted in some enemies clipping through walls and being unable to move–a small fracture in what is otherwise a captivating and rich technical showcase.

Moss thrusts you deep into its whimsical world with a variety of different locales throughout Quill’s journey. The sense of scale that VR affords lends the world a lot of weight. A stirring deer in the distance might be a throwaway movement in another game, but its tremendous sound and size in comparison to Quill make it an earth-shaking moment. Later in the game, glowing sentinels and a suffocating infestation of metal vines wrap around a city long forgotten, acting as a strong change of scenery after extended trips through damp catacombs and sandy beaches. Quill might be small in stature, but she takes you on a riveting trip through some truly beautiful scenery.

It’s a testament to just how well Moss understands PlayStation VR and works with the device instead of trying to bend it to a will it was never designed for. Moss wouldn’t feel right without it at all, and its many strengths are married to the interactions that only full immersion can manufacture. Unsurprisingly, then, Moss is easily one of PlayStation VR’s best titles to date, even if it’s a little too eager to get you in and out of its world.

The first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War delivered plenty of action, plus an appearance from pretty much every hero from the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. A few more pieces of information have emerged this week, including new looks for both Iron Man and Black Widow.

A promotional image posted on Reddit reveals that Tony Stark will be sporting two new additions to his Iron Man suit–a bionic arm and a pair of wings. As Digital Spy points out, a fleeting shot in the recent Super Bowl TV spot for the movie suggests that Tony is missing an arm. We obviously don’t know how he loses it, but it looks like he might be getting a bionic upgrade. As for the wings–Stark has never needed them to fly before, but hey, they look pretty cool.

Black Widow’s change is less dramatic, but her new costume is partly green, which at the very least ties her in visually to her good pal the Hulk. Check the image out below:

In addition, a piece of Infinity War merchandise has revealed one of the movie’s new villains. A promotional mug shows Thanos alongside his evil Black Order, plus a mysterious new bad guy. While we don’t know who it is exactly, Heroic Hollywood has suggested that it could be Warbringer, a Chitauri warlord who first appeared in a 2015 issue of Marvel’s Nova comic.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4. It is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, who helmed the last two Captain America movies, and will follow it up with next year’s currently untitled Avengers 4.

In related news, Captain American star Chris Evans last week seemed to confirm that the rumored Black Widow movie is in development at Marvel. Evans was asked about the success of Black Panther, and said, “There’s nothing they can’t do, man,” he said. “I’m sure it’s going to have the exact same effect when Captain Marvel comes out, and then the Black Widow movie comes out. Marvel just has the winning recipe.”